Parallel Theory: Make A Wish: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
by Abyssal Angel
Summary: Rated M just in case. If you could make any wish you want, what would it be? This story is the answer to my question for myself at least. I hope you enjoy it, and perhaps you'll get an interesting idea of things you'd never thought you might be able to get out of seemingly innocuous things. DISCLAIMER: If you recognize it, I don't own it!
1. Chapter 1

Hi, I'm Matthew Pavone. I'm nearly 24 years old. This is the story of my wish and the consequences.

I was in my apartment, browsing around the internet for music and writing down story ideas, when out of my 92 in TV screen pops out a genie!

The Genie crosses his arms and says, "I am here to grant you one wish. Choose."

I gape at the genie, then mentally shrug and ask, "Can I ask you a few questions first?"

The Genie appears to consider this, then says, "Ask, and I may answer."

I've been thinking off and on occasionally of what I'd do if I got to make a wish, so I already know what I want to wish for, but I need to clarify a few things first.

I ask, "Are there any rules in regards to this wish?"

The Genie answers, "There are none."

Well there's a surprise. Evidently I really could wish for more wishes or something, but just in case, I ask, "So could I use my wish to wish for more wishes?"

The Genie answered, "You only get one wish."

That kinda sounds like a rule to me and he said there weren't any, so I asked, "That sounds like a rule to me in regards to the wish you know."

The Genie didn't say anything, so I guess he'll only answer my questions, so I ask, "How is that no wishing for more wishes thing not a rule?"

The Genie answered, "I already told you that I'm here to grant you one wish, and one wish only. You can wish for anything with that one wish."

I shrug and ask, "Well, does that mean I can wish for more genies then?"

I think I'm starting to annoy the genie, since he rolls his eyes and says, "Only one wish per person. Must I say it again?"

I back off and say, "Alright, I understand. Only one wish. Ok, do I have to be very specific with my wish? I've heard of the Monkey's Paw wish, and I don't want that happening to me."

I guess that question appeased the genie or something, since he seems less annoyed and answers, "You do not have to be specific with your wish. You will get what you want, not what is implied by your words. I am not a lawyer out to get you. I am only here to grant you a wish."

I nod and ask, "So just to clarify, if I used my wish on getting a hundred dollars, I wouldn't suddenly find that my brother died and bequeathed me a hundred dollars right?"

The genie answered, "That is correct."

I nodded and then bit my lip. I only had one question left, and the genie had been surprisingly accommodating. And you know what they say about looking a gift horse in the mouth, but I have to do it. My life has been crappy enough. I'm not the kind of guy to get something for nothing. It doesn't happen.

Steeling myself, I ask, "Why are you giving me a wish?"

The genie doesn't answer right away. He just looks me in the eye as if searching for something. I meet his gaze, though I've certainly no idea what he's looking for. I guess he found it though because he answers, "I am giving you a wish because I can."

Well that's certainly not much of an answer. I ask, "That's all? You're giving me a wish just because?"

Again the genie looks me in the eye, and then says, "It is my wish to give to whom I will. I chose you. There is no deeper meaning to it."

Again, a non answer, or maybe that really is all there is to it. I just don't get it. Why give it to me, instead of somebody else?

I muttered out loud, "Belldandy gave Keichi a wish because his life was worse than it should have been, yet he was still a good person. He's not the only person like that, so other Goddesses gave those people wishes, and Belldandy just happened to be the one to give Keichi his wish, but there was still a reason for it. Yet you're telling me… that you're giving me a wish just because you can? Why me? Why do I get a wish? What makes me worthy of even getting a wish?"

The genie simply asked, "What doesn't make you worthy of getting a wish?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then shut it because there really isn't a real answer to that question either. I could spout on and on about how I'm a terrible person or whatnot, and why I'm not worthy to get a wish compared to another person, but those are my words, not the genie's. The fact that he even asked that is as much a statement that in the genie's eyes, I'm worthy of this wish, no matter how I might say otherwise.

Instead I asked, "Do others get wishes too?"

The genie nodded, "They do."

Gratified, I said, "I'm ready to make my wish now."

The Genie seemed to stand, er… float, straighter and asked, "What is your wish?"

I replied, "I wish to be able to enter and exit any picture."

The genie nodded and said, "Your wish is granted."

And then the Genie was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

I blinked. Just like that, the Genie was gone. As if it hadn't even been there in the first place.

Did that really happen, I wondered. Maybe I feel asleep and had a really realistic dream?

I shrugged and figured there's only one way to find out.

So grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, and I drew a box.

Putting down the pencil, I hesitantly put my hand on the picture.

My hand sank through the picture as if it weren't even there.

With ever increasing wonder, I reached toward the box and opened it. Inside is a pencil. Not just any pencil, but an exact copy of the pencil I have sitting next to my picture, down to the tiniest detail. The experiment was a success! Since pictures are limited only by the imagination, anything I imagine inside that box when I draw it will be there!

I pulled the pencil towards myself, but I couldn't pull it from the picture. I had to let go of the pencil to remove my hand from the picture, and the pencil dropped to the bottom of the picture and bounced a bit before settling and rolling a little bit away from the edge. Well that stinks, but I can work around that. Even more interesting is how the picture seems to be both 2D and 3D at the same time. Odd that.

Reaching back inside, I picked the pencil back up and drew a random flower inside the picture. I may as well have drawn the same thing with my pencil outside the picture. Shrugging, I pulled my hand back out.

I grabbed my pencil and lightly sketched a picture of a room with a door on the wall.

Putting the pencil in my pocket, I slowly put one hand, then the other through the picture, and once again I went through a solid wall as if it weren't even there. Seeing an extremely accurate 3D drawing of my arms on the wall is somewhat odd.

Removing my hands, I stuck my foot in for the same effect. Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes and took a step forward.

Nothing happened as far as I can tell. I completed my step forward even though a solid wall should have been in the way. Opening my eyes, I found myself in a room the same color as my wall on the floor, ceiling, walls, and door, with only pencil lines to determine where the edges to things are. It worked. The room isn't very big, but then again, I didn't imagine it to be. I just needed it big enough so that I can open the door.

See, if I just drew the door without the room, I might as well not have this power at all, since all my hand would touch in the picture is a drawn door. I can't pull things out of a picture, so I'd be hard pressed to open the door. Though now that I think about it, I could have just drawn the door so that it'd open outward. Then it wouldn't matter.

Feeling slightly foolish, I decided to do just that. I turned back around and found a picture of my room on the wall, exactly the same size as the picture I drew on the wall. I might as well have been standing in front of an open doorway from one room to the next.

Stepping out, I turned around and used my eraser to get rid of the lines on my wall, and then drew a door that would swing outwards.

Nodding, I put my hand through the wall and swung the door open. The door did indeed swing open but there wasn't anything on the other side. I closed the door feeling chagrined.

See, I drew the door so it would act kind of like the Room of Requirement in the Harry Potter Series. Whatever I imagine will be on the other side of that door, will be on the other side of that door. Unfortunately I wasn't really imagining anything.

In my mind's eye, I pictured a room with a box, then I decided to take that one step further, and I imagined that the room on the other side would be a room that my imagination could affect in real time.

With that idea fixed firmly in mind, I swung the door open. Again, there wasn't anything there, but as if the picture were drawing itself, a room started to take shape. The floor is a plush red carpet that is unbelievably soft. The walls are a light wood and the ceiling is an ivory white and flat, no popcorn ceilings thank you very much.

Grinning, I stepped into the room.

Ok, first thing I need to do is get past the boundary of not being able to remove anything from a picture. So the first thing I do is imagine up a table along the far wall with a row of test tube vials sitting in a test tube vial holder thing.

Picking up the vial on the end, I examined it. It's a clear glass vial with a clear liquid inside. Might as well be water. Pulling off the cap, I downed the liquid, put the cap back on, and then stepped through the door, bring the vial with me. SUCCESS!

See, you can do pretty much anything with the imagination, and you literally are limited by only your imagination, and anything you draw is limited by only your imagination and your ability to draw. I negated that second one by drawing a door, not a pretty one mind you, but just a plain usable door to a room limited by only my imagination. As for the vial, I just imagined up a tasteless potion that might as well be water, but the potion would allow me to take stuff out of pictures with me.

What does this mean exactly? Just as the genie said, I could not wish for him to give me wishes, or for other genies to give me wishes, but why bother? I can grant my own wishes now! In fact, considering that, I walk back into my Room of Requirement, or Req Room for short, and grabbed another vial and downed it.

This vial will allow me to affect anything I want with my imagination. I'm no longer limited to this room. In fact, just to prove a point, I stepped out of the Req Room, and turning around, I imagined the room to be erased, and lo and behold the room erased itself from the wall.

Well, what to do now? My imagination is literally the limit.

Of course, the greatest thing about the imagination is that there is no limit.


	3. Chapter 3

I stood there, staring at my living room, thinking. My imagination is the limit now. I can do anything. But what now? I literally have no idea where to go from here. I'd never thought this far ahead when I thought about my wish. What should I do with it?

I suppose I could go flying… that's right, I could just go outside and fly now couldn't I? Suddenly excited, I throw on a shirt and my flip flops and rush outside, only to be met with the sight of all the cars rushing past on the road in front of my apartment. Someone could see me. I don't want to try out flying where I could be seen.

Not to mention it's all grey and muggy outside. Ugh. I wouldn't want to fly in that anyway. Turning around, I headed back inside and kicked off my flip flops back where they were sitting in the hallway in front of my door.

Staring at my bed, I wordlessly flop onto it and stare at the ceiling. I can do anything now. But what does one do, when they can do anything?

My musings were suddenly cut short by a growl from my stomach. I'm hungry. I'm hungry! Food! Perfect! Jumping up, I turn to the spot where I'd originally placed the entrance to the drawn room that let me break my limits and imagined a hallway there with multiple doors on either side, making the carpet a rich red and shag style. I stepped onto it grinning, running my toes through it. It feels divine. Even while I'm doing this, the hallway takes shape in my mind's eye, and therefore in front of me as well.

Now I'm standing in a long hallway with multiple open windows to my right that look out over a spectacular garden from the second floor. There are lots of trees and flowers and a little pond full of fish complete with mini waterfall over some obsidian rocks. The hallway I'm in wraps around behind me, firmly placing the entrance back to my apartment proper in the wall flanked by the doors on either side. Stepping to the one on the right, I open it up to reveal a large yet cozy dining room. The table is large enough to seat 20 people, and is loaded down with dishes of all sorts. There's even a roast pig with an apple in its mouth, just to give it that authentic banquet touch.

Sitting down, I grab the nearest plate and help myself to some roasted garlic mashed potatoes, some sweet and salty corn, a salmon steak, and an ever full glass of milk. Quickly saying a prayer of thanks and asking for a blessing on the food, I quickly dig in.

It is unbelievably delicious. I ended up grabbing a little bit of everything, even trying the roasted pig. I thought about trying the apple in its mouth too, but as soon as I removed it, the sight of the pig like that seemed kind of creepy. With the apple, it was just a banquet piece. Now it actually looks like a dead animal on the table. I quickly put the apple back, and all is once more right with the world.

Call me soft, but seeing something dead with a face just bothers me. Considering how much meat I eat, I know that's extremely hypocritical of me, but still. Finally, I start to feel full, and it was only then that I realized I'd normally have never been able to eat as much as I just did. I wasn't even thinking about it, but my imagination must've allowed me to eat as much as I liked.

A sudden chill goes down my spine as I realize the bullet I just dodged. If I'd allowed myself, I could've just gone eating forever, enjoying the taste of all the wonderful bits of food, never getting full, and falling prey to gluttony. With a shudder, I amend my own ability to control reality to only be able to do so through conscious effort, elsewise I just might end up doing something crazy like destroying the world without even realizing it, or something equally stupid.

With my hunger satisfied for now, I contemplated what to do next. Speaking on the subject of hunger, there must be plenty of hungry people out there in the world who could benefit from my new found abilities. Free food for everyone! What could be better?

I started to fashion in my head, a microwave looking device, only with no buttons. This device will respond to voice commands and give you whatever food you ask for. Actually, that would limit the food to the size of the interior of the food generator, which is what I'm tentatively calling this device. Come to think of it, that limit might not be a bad thing, since I don't want people falling prey to gluttony either. Nodding my head, I keep it just like it is.

With the food generator finished, I wondered how I should get this device out to the people. I can hardly advertise it. No one would believe the ads since this machine is pretty much able to do the impossible. Further thinking on it, I realize that people could just order plate after plate of food and get fat and gluttonous anyway. With that worry in mind, I added a failsafe into the device, preventing it from giving a person more food than they need, and if someone tries to get another person to get them food, the food will just disappear before they can eat it.

There. With that issue solved, I once again turned back to the issue of getting it out to the people. I suppose I can travel around, showing it off, but then how to go about supplying the device when demand for it starts to pick up? Could I just pop them into existence in front of everyone?

No that's a bad idea. Some people would start screaming about witchcraft and unnaturalness, avoiding the machine when they could be using it to not be hungry anymore. Then again, some people might think that anyway, regardless of how I try to point at science as the explanation rather than my new found ability to warp reality as I see fit.

In that case, I need to either make a machine that can build these things, or better yet, I can have a truck that's always full of boxed food generators and just put the equivalent of a notice-me-not spell so no one notices that the truck just isn't emptying.

…or I could just put a notice-me-not spell on my ability to just magic them out of thin air. Why didn't I think of that? And since I'm only limited by my imagination, that guarantees that the 'spell' will work! Well, that settles it. Lifting up the extremely light Food Generator, I walked back into my apartment, and with just a thought my Microwave and Toaster oven poofed out of existence, allowing me to place my sleek, black, shiny, modern looking food generator in its place. With just another thought, I added a feature allowing the device to be able to 'magic' itself clean. Now it just plain won't get dirty, and will always look as good as new.

That finished, I created another one, and headed out to the college campus just across the road from my apartment. Walking along, and getting a little tired, I simply willed the tiredness away and had a nice light breeze blowing on me to get rid of the mugginess of the day.

Soon enough, I made my way to the outdoor forum area. I'm in luck. It seems to be market day, or whatever they call it. There are tables set up all over the place with people discussing clubs, religion, and selling things. Now where to set up? What I wouldn't give for a table with my name on it… actually why not?

Using Wonderland rules, I turned around from the crowd, and I decided that when I turned around, there would be a table with my name on it. No questions asked, no strings attached. Turning around, there it was, complete with placard with my name on it, and not a single question reacted as if it hadn't been there the entire time. Quickly making my way over, I grabbed the chair that just happened to be leaning on the tree behind my table and set it up, then I unrolled the simple white table cloth over the table, and sat down, glad that I'd thought to have the table under a tree for the shade, despite the sky already being overcast so it wasn't sunny anyway.

Plonking my Food Generator on the table. I waited. After a few minutes of not being noticed, I realized maybe I should put an ad up or something to catch people's attention. Now what would catch the attention of a college student? I nearly facepalmed at the obvious. Quickly I grabbed up the poster board nearby and quickly scribbled the words, 'FREE FOOD! Just ask and it's yours!'

That done, I fastened the large board to two plastic stakes laying nearby that I'd willed into being Wonderland style once again, along with everything else I'd been using, and set up my new advertisement.

Almost immediately, I had a few stopping to view the sign and asking me about the free food, and what I meant by asking about it. I gestured to the machine and said, "This device is a new invention of mine. I'd say more, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you, so I'll just show you." Clearing my throat, I turned to the food generator and said, "I'd like a hamburger with fries and a bottle of ketchup on a platter."

The food generator dinged, and I pulled the door open, glad that I'd thought to make myself a bit hungry lest I get locked out due to my feast earlier and look foolish. Out popped a steaming delicious hamburger with the crispest looking fries I'd ever seen. I grinned at the gaping college students, shut the door, and said, "Try it."

They tried it. My machine became an instant hit. Even the tables around me were looking over, gaping in awe. Soon, I had a crowd surrounding my table, clambering to try it out. It didn't take long before someone asked, "Dude, where can I get one of these!?" I'd already explained what it's called (and discreetly emblazoned its name on the side in silver stylized letters) and that I'd just invented it. Reaching down, I grabbed a boxed one from under the table, which thankfully no one could see under thanks to the tablecloth, and set it up on the table and answered, "Right here. I'm selling these Food Generators, and I've got one for everyone."

Almost immediately I had money shoved in my face, a couple even going so far as to say, "Shut up and take my money!" much to my amusement. I set up a jar and just let people dump in whatever they were comfortable with, and kept pulling out box after box from under the table. I'd have just handed them out for free, but basic psychology states that if it's free, people are going to assume it's a dud or there's some kind of trick involved, and people don't like that. Only if people are actually paying for it will they accept that they're getting their money's worth. Screwy, I know. But true. I suppose I could have changed that with my new abilities, but the idea of messing with people's minds sounds like an extremely slippery slope to start down on, so I deliberately avoided that. Just using this 'notice-me-not' thing is already pushing it.

Pretty soon my jar had filled to overflowing, so I dropped the jar under the table, discreetly vanishing the money back to my apartment in case I have some kind of need of it, and pulled up the seemingly new, empty jar. I ended up having to do that three more times before the crowd finally ended up dispersing at the end of the day.

I chuckled, seeing a group of tech geeks over at another table, trying to pull apart one to figure out how it worked, but no such luck for them. I'd thankfully thought of making the device impervious to damage earlier what with so many people clambering over the one I'd set up for display, and with no catches or screws, the lot of them were collectively scratching their heads over how to pry it open. Even smashing it with a hammer hadn't worked.

With my work here finished, and with even my display Food Generator having disappeared on me, I chuckled and collapsed the chair and table along with everyone else, discreetly vanishing everything I'd used, including the once again empty jar.

That finished, I whistled and made my way back to my apartment. It's getting dark, and I'm getting a bit tired, which is a novelty considering at this point, I would normally be going to bed in the middle of the day thanks to my sleep disorder, but the moment I got tired earlier, I'd fixed that right up so now I have a normal 24 hour sleep schedule just like everyone else!

Happy with that, plus the day having gone well, and feeling nice and full having access to whatever food I wanted on a constant basis, I flopped on to my bed and shut my eyes and put another limit on my new power, preventing the possibility of using it while I'm dreaming just in case. Don't want to react to a monster in my dream only to find out I'd blown a hole in my roof or something.

Just before going to bed, I used Wonderland rules to set up a website advertising my new Food Generator, automating the creation of and delivery process of the machines and directing the money to go straight to my checking account.

That done, and grinning at a day well spent, I yawned and drifted off to sleep, my paranoia automatically putting up an invisible impervious shield around myself at the very last moment, as well as making the new impossible addition to my home unnoticeable to others.


End file.
